Paid Employee Training Question...PLEASE HELP!!!

I need feedback or examples of "Best Practices" regarding paid employee training? As facility managers begin to review personnel costs and as the pressure rises to maintain established budgets, managers are beginning to consider and recommend revisions to our current employee training policies. We currently pay employees for time spent in re-certification classes.

What is your organization's policy? Please also let me know what organization or area of the country you are located...

Thanks in advance for your input! :)

1) What is your organization’s policy on paying employees for hours spent in re-certification courses (i.e. Lifeguard Training and CPR/AED)? For example: If employees spend 6 hours in a CPR/AED Review Course, would the employees be paid for the 6 hours spent completing this training? Or if employees spend 15-20hrs in a Lifeguarding Review Course, would the employees be paid for this time?

We do a similar practice here in the City of Sacramento. We do not pay for recerts in LGT since that is the minimum job requirement. We offer in house certification for CPR and Title 22 (EMSA) first aid--due to our budget issues, they can take the class for free but they do not get paid to attend (we used to pay them if they passed the class). This is all outlined in our P&P manual.

We pay our Full time staff their time and for the certs. We do ours in house and try to do it during a time when they would normally be working anyway.

As for the rest of the staff, we also do those in-house and pay for the certs, but not their time. We schedule 3 CPRPR challenges a year and they are required to maintain their certs. We do 2 Lifeguard challenges a year and, again, they are responsible for keeping their certs current. If they miss a challenge, they have to go outside to get their certs.

Good question, I am definitely interested in everyone's answers. We pay staff for their recertification as well as paying new employees for their time in the full American Red Cross lifeguarding course. The students pay nothing for the courses nor materials. These are all done in house and we employ approximately 160 guards for the summer season. About 40-45 are in the full class and the rest even those certified elsewhere go through our recertification classes. (Waterpark in Northwest Indiana)

We do not pay for their time in recertification courses, but we are seasonal and terminate all of our employees at the end of each summer. They are not brought back on staff until they recert their E&A license every year. They have to pay a $40 fee each year for the recert.

What is your organization’s policy on paying employees for hours spent in re-certification courses (i.e. Lifeguard Training and CPR/AED)? For example: If employees spend 6 hours in a CPR/AED Review Course, would the employees be paid for the 6 hours spent completing this training? Or if employees spend 15-20hrs in a Lifeguarding Review Course, would the employees be paid for this time?

I work at a YMCA, and we do not pay employees to attend re-certifications. If they need to be certified for their job (i.e. lifeguard), it is considered a condition of their employment. They need to keep it current in order to stay employed. We do offer re-certification classes on site. We only charge employees the cost of the card - $5 for CPR, $10 for lifeguard. We also open up these classes to community members to help off-set the cost of holding them.

We do not pay employees during re-certification courses, end of story. We see this as a way to professionally develop our staff, and they have the option to renew or expire. Of course, if they expire, they no longer have a job. The employees are required to invest in themselves and pay for the renewal. The cost is usually low ($5-$20), as we are not looking to profit. Basically what they pay for is any course materials they need and plan to keep (pocket mask, book which is an optional cost, we have some we loan during the courses if they do not wish to keep it). We try to keep it as affordable as possible, as we do want to help our staff be successful, but it is important for them to realize they are investing in themselves by taking the steps needed to continue to professionally develop themselves.

Union agreements, Fair Labor standards, agency policies are all places to look for clarification. I have been with agencies that think certification is a condition of employment so it is up to the employee to keep certified, therefore they do not pay them but provide it. I have worked for other that have paid them hour for hour to get recertified.

In my opinion it is a call your agency can make based upon the advice of your HR department.